Some young people are unbelievably generous with their time, are almost born altruists. Meet Samm Coffin, a study abroad student at Stellenbosch University, outside of Cape Town, South Africa. While adjusting to a foreign country and taking a full load of courses Samm immediately volunteered to help make a difference including working at an afterschool program and taking hundreds of pictures for Dog Meets World (DMW) at Kayamandi.

I am pleased to introduce Tracy Dearsan, our June Artist of the Month. Tracy, a native-of-Utah-gone-Californian, designs elaborately beaded jackets that to me have rich, yet renegade feel. Tracy was recently here in Utah and actually modeled two different jackets, but I did not take a picture of her in those jackets! What was I thinking?  Yikes!

I've got such a special book to share with you today. Author Mariana Titus is an old friend and I've always admired her writing, care for others, and artistry. Yes, she's an accomplished artist - she's inspired our daughter in her artistic pursuits as well. Mariana's books are full of a sense of PLACE and character. It is rare that an author can dig deep and truly share the essence of a place, culture, people.